Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
London is more than 600 square miles of urban jungle—a world in itself and a barrage on
all the senses. On my first visit, I felt extremely small. To grasp London more comfortably,
see it as the old town in the city center without the modern, congested sprawl. (Even from
that perspective, it's still huge.)
The Thames River (pronounced “tems”) runs roughly west to east through the city,
with most of the visitor's sights on the North Bank. Mentally, maybe even physically, trim
down your map to include only the area between the Tower of London (to the east), Hyde
Park (west), Regent's Park (north), and the South Bank (south). This is roughly the area
bordered by the Tube's Circle Line. This four-mile stretch between the Tower and Hyde
Park (about a 1.5-hour walk) looks like a milk bottle on its side (see map on next page),
and holds 80 percent of the sights mentioned in this topic.
With a core focus and a good orientation, you'll get a sampling of London's top sights,
history, and cultural entertainment, and a good look at its ever-changing human face.
The sprawling city becomes much more manageable if you think of it as a collection
of neighborhoods.
Central London:
This area contains Westminster and what Londoners call the West
End. The Westminster district includes Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and
Buckingham Palace—the grand government buildings from which Britain is ruled. Tra-
falgar Square, London's gathering place, has many major museums. The West End is the
center of London's cultural life, with bustling squares: Piccadilly Circus and Leicester
Square host cinemas, tourist traps, and nighttime glitz. Soho and Covent Garden are thriv-
ing people zones with theaters, restaurants, pubs, and boutiques. And Regent and Oxford
streets are the city's main shopping zones.
